


at least in this lifetime, we're sticking together

by knoxoursavior



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 13:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17767529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knoxoursavior/pseuds/knoxoursavior
Summary: Ash wakes up to warmth.





	at least in this lifetime, we're sticking together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Amarokster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amarokster/gifts).



> written for [amarokster](https://twitter.com/amarokster) as a part of the bf valentines exchange!

Ash wakes up to warmth.

That’s never been unusual; he’s always been one to wrap his blanket around himself like a burrito after all. What’s different is Eiji’s arm, wrapped loosely around his waist, Eiji’s lips, pressing kisses to his shoulder, Eiji’s body, pressed against his. What’s different is Ash’s reaction—his lips curling into a smile, his hands finding Eiji’s and squeezing, his body moving on its own, leaning into Eiji’s.

What’s different is that Ash doesn’t have to worry, doesn’t have to force his brain to work, to figure out where he is, who he’s with, what he last remembers, because these days, the answers to those questions are always the same. He’s in Japan with Eiji, and the last thing he did was to fall asleep in Eiji’s arms.

“Good morning,” he says, and he punctuates it with a kiss. Eiji tastes like coffee and honey, and faintly like mint and sunshine.

Eiji rolls his eyes, turns to hide his smile against Ash’s cheek. “It’s almost noon, you know.”

“Still morning,” Ash says. He wraps an arm around Eiji and pulls him even closer. “I still get to give you a lot of good morning kisses.”

And he does. He kisses Eiji’s cheek and Eiji’s nose and Eiji’s lips. He kisses Eiji, slow and lazy, kisses Eiji until he’s almost out of breath, until Eiji’s hand running up his spine makes him gasp and shiver.

“ _ Eiji _ ,” Ash whines. “That’s not fair.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Eiji says, even though he doesn’t sound sorry  _ at all _ . It’s fine though. Ash is used to Eiji teasing him, gives as good as he gets most times. The other times—well. Sometimes, Ash lets Eiji rile him up because Eiji is  _ really _ cute and Ash doesn’t really want to resist him.

This is one of those times. Ash isn’t in much of a mood to bicker anyway, even playfully, and his time is running out on those good morning kisses too.

“Make it up to me,” he says. He rolls them around until Eiji is underneath him, until Eiji’s hands find his hips and Eiji’s eyes are wide as they look up at him.

“Yes,” Eiji says. Not  _ how _ or  _ why  _ or  _ should I _ —just  _ yes _ , like anything Ash asks of him, he’ll do. Just  _ yes _ , a little bit breathless, a little too hazy. His cheeks are dusted pink and his lips are parted, as if they’re only waiting for Ash to descend upon them.

He does, of course, but not entirely. Just enough that he’s barely an inch away from Eiji. Just enough that he feels Eiji’s nose bumping against his, feels Eiji’s warm breath against his lips, feels Eiji’s heartbeat falter where his fingers brush against Eiji’s neck. 

“Kiss me,” Ash says. He whispers the words into the space between them, the space in between Eiji’s parted lips. “No distracting me this time.”

“Yes,” Eiji repeats, but this time, he surges upwards. This time, he cradles Ash’s face in his hands, closes his eyes, and presses his lips against Ash’s.

Eiji keeps his hands where they are, and that’s good, because Ash doesn’t think he can handle much right now. His mind is still a little hazy from sleep, his body a little heavy. It’s only Eiji’s heat underneath him that wakes him up, slow but sure, and it’s Eiji’s warmth that seeps into his skin and starts to fill him with life. It feels like basking in the sun, like floating on a pool and letting the rays of the early morning sun warm his body.

Ash wants to stay like this forever, wants to have Eiji close enough to kiss and to hug and to touch. He wants every minute of every day to be like this, wants to savor every single moment, to file it away in a little corner of his mind and fill up all of the dark, empty spaces with Eiji’s light.

He’s fought tooth-and-nail for this, has bled and broken and split at his seams for this, and he has no intention of walking away from it anytime soon. He’ll take as much of Eiji’s warmth as he’s allowed, will hold on for as long as Eiji holds him back.

He’s always thought of this world as fucked-up, has always kept the steel in his heart and taken every obstacle it’s thrown at him in stride. He wonders, at times like this, when he’s curled into Eiji who is safe and alive and  _ in love  _ with him, if this is the world making up for every bad thing it made him go through when he was younger.

Sometimes, he wonders if this is the world letting him know what love and happiness and  _ Eiji  _ are before it rips them away from him. He doesn’t like thinking about that possibility, but it consumes him, sneaks up on him during the stretches of silence when he’s home alone, when he can’t help but seek out reminders that Eiji’s  _ safe _ , that Eiji’s coming back, that he’ll be there to greet Ash with a kiss and keep him close while they’re together.

There’s Eiji’s photos displayed along the halls of their apartment, Eiji’s coat slung over the arm of their couch, forgotten because of the relentless summer sun, Eiji’s hastily written notes littered over every surface of their kitchen and living room. Even when Eiji’s away, he surrounds Ash, reminds him that he’s safe. That he’s  _ free _ . Free to love, to live, to be happy.

Because Ash feels the most free when he’s with Eiji. Whether he’s holding Eiji’s hand in his, or curled up in Eiji’s arms, or just existing in the same space as Eiji, it doesn’t matter. Maybe that’s odd, ironic, that he’s the most free when he’s tied to a person, but it’s at times like this, when he has his body pressed up against Eiji’s, has Eiji’s heart beating underneath his palm, has Eiji’s tongue brushing against his, that he thinks,  _ ah _ , thinks,  _ I’ll protect this with everything I have _ , thinks,  _ I want to live like this forever. _

When they finally pull away from each other, Eiji is smiling. It’s a small smile, barely anything more than a slight curl of his lips, but it makes Ash’s whole body warm up, starting in his chest and slowly crawling outwards until the tips of his fingers tingle where they’re pressed against Eiji’s skin.

“Good morning,” Eiji says. “Have I made it up to you?”

Ash tilts his head, fights a smile of his own. “Maybe.”

Eiji tugs him downwards, captures his lips in another kiss before letting him go, before asking, “What about now?”

Ash is helpless against the way Eiji looks up at him through his eyelashes, breathless at the sight of Eiji licking his lower lip. “What are you going to do if I say no?”

“Well,” Eiji says. “I’d tell you that I made you breakfast, and then I’d ask you if you want me to feed you that breakfast myself.”

“Oh?” Ash turns, only now sees the tray balanced precariously on their nightstand, next to the lamp Sing gave them as a housewarming gift and the book that Blanca gave Ash as a gift for his last birthday. He’s been so distracted with Eiji that he hasn’t noticed it, but then again, he’s always been a little slow in the mornings, and even more so when he’s faced with Eiji.

He turns back to Eiji, lets his hair fall over his face as he leans down to whisper in Eiji’s ear, “If you can get out from under me, then I’ll let you feed me.”

Eiji shivers, just like Ash expects him to. His ears have always been sensitive, and he always responds so well, whether Ash is biting his ear, licking it, or just breathing into it.

“That’s unfair,” Eiji whines. “You work out almost everyday, you know.”

Ash huffs, pinches Eiji’s side just hard enough that Eiji has to jerk away. “You work out too, don’t you? And which one of us was the nationally ranked athlete again?”

Eiji rolls his eyes. “ _ Was _ being the keyword. I’m not as fit as I was before.”

Ash scrunches his nose at Eiji, says, “Liar. What about all the times you’ve carried me, huh?”

“Uh. I just get a little lucky?” Eiji says, but even he doesn’t sound that convinced. He’s carried Ash a  _ lot _ of times after all, most of which are because Ash is useless in the mornings. He also has a tendency of diving face-first into their couch when he comes home tired, so Eiji has to carry him all the way to their bedroom then too.

“Sure,” Ash says, eyebrows rising. “You must get lucky a lot.”

Eiji’s cheeks flush, matching the pink of his gums that show when he smiles, and only then does Ash realize what he’s just said.

He leans down, presses his face into Eiji’s neck and hides because now it’s  _ him _ who’s blushing, from his cheeks to his neck, all the way to his ears. He groans, hits Eiji’s chest half-heartedly, says, “Stop laughing.”

Eiji does stop, but only after he’s laughed so hard that tears are now streaming down his face.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says. Eiji’s hand wraps around Ash’s nape, and then Eiji’s arm around his waist. Eiji presses close until he’s kissing Ash’s forehead, and against his skin, Eiji whispers, “I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

Ash opens his mouth, half-formed thoughts on the tip of his tongue, but before he can say anything, Eiji’s grip is already tightening around his waist, and the world’s already turning around him as Eiji flips them over.

The bed is soft underneath Ash, but it would be nothing without Eiji’s warmth, nothing without the empty space where Eiji usually sleeps.

And Eiji— _ oh _ —Eiji looks so beautiful with that smile on his face, that smile reserved only for Ash’s eyes to see, that smile that he smiles right before—

“I love you.”

Ash’s breath catches. Suddenly, his heart feels too big for his chest and his eyes feel too wet to be anything but out-of-the-ordinary.

“I love you too,” he says. “So much.”

They don’t leave their bed until late afternoon.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on [twt](https://twitter.com/singeiji)!!


End file.
